Speaking of weaning...

Trent is officially weaned from the bottle.  I'm not sure what the average timeline or age is for something like this, but at the Woodland house the bottles are officially in the cabinet waiting for the next baby.  It took Trent (and us) quite some time to master the art that is drinking from a sippy cup, and there were times I thought it would never happen, but of course it was only a matter of time.  His attachment to the bottle was never all that great, so the transition to only cup wasn't bad at all.  I'm thrilled to not have to clean all the bottle parts any more....well, at least not for another month or so.

random updates

I feel like I haven't been blogging much at all lately. To be perfectly honest with you, I do most of my blogging while im at work and i've been in a big work-funk lately, so I just haven't had the motivation to sit and write about the things and people I love. Sorry!

I have, however, been actively trying to get a good video clip to post on my blog. Trent is really into giving High 5's right now and I want to share that with everyone, but every time i get the camera out, Trents mission changes from giving high-fives to getting the camera in his possession. He's actually been doing high-fives for a while now. Kevin started teaching him several months ago. It's so cute!

Trent still has only 4 teeth - but I really think he's about to cut his 5th (but i've been saying that for a couple months now, so....)

He has mastered the art of pulling himself up, and he has even dared to let go a couple times. Standing unassisted is very very rare and it never lasts longer than a second (in fact, Kevin has yet to witness it).

Trent is really into "walking" too - the kind of walking where you hold his hands and walk along with him.

He is obsessed with food!!!! We used to be able to give him a bottle while Kevin and I ate our dinner. If it wasn't time for a bottle we could feed him a jar of food while the other parent ate real food. Now, if Trent sees our food, he wants it. Because of this we have started to remove any and all jarred food from his diet all together. I'm glad that phase is over.

We have also started to wean him from formula. We've been adding one ounce of cows milk to his bottles each day. He will be on 100% cows milk by the end of this weekend. We are EXTREMELY glad the formula phase is almost over (it's inconvenient, it stinks, its messy)!! And even more thankful that he appears to have no milk allergies (or any food allergies for that matter).

I was going to blog about how he now eats the bubbles in his bath - but he only did it during the one bath a couple weeks ago. It was so cute, he kept gathering more bubbles on his hand and shoving them in his mouth, then he'd have a santa-like beard & mustache. very cute.

I'm sure there are other updates that I'm just not thinking about, but thats everything that came to mind!

Don't forget that you can ask me any questions you may have. Sometimes it's hard for me to come up with new topics on my own :-)

moving on and drying up

yesterday was my last day breast feeding Trent! Again, it's very bittersweet but it was definitely time! Just thought I'd share that with those of you who are following my weaning process.

my weaning experience thus far

Nicole asked that I keep her updated on my weaning experience, as she plans to start weaning in a couple months. This may be more information than anyone wants - and it may be confusing (sorry), but here it goes:



For most women who want to wean from breastfeeding, they are told to drop one nursing session a week. Up until recently I was nursing Trent 4-5 times a day, so for me that means the weaning process should take me 4-5 weeks total (or longer if I choose). It doesn't matter which sessions you drop first - I think it's just matter of preference and/or convenience. Sometimes a mom can tell which session is the baby's favorite (or moms favorite) so they save that one for last (i believe this is generally the first session of the day, or the last session). Waiting a week between dropped feedings allows moms body to adjust slowly, which leads to less chance of a clogged milk duct, or worse yet, an infection.



In my case, however, things are different. My body has started to quickly dry up on its own. Rather than do things the "proper" way, I'm kind of just winging it:



(The following information is based off my Monday-Friday schedule. I do not pump at all on Weekends. Instead of pumping, I nurse Trent whenever he is hungry)

• Up until 7/22/09 I was pumping 3 times a day and nursing 2-3 times
• I dropped a pump at that time (not because of pregnancy, but because Trent dropped a feeding)
• On 8/11/09 (4+ weeks later) I dropped down to 1 pump. I did this because I knew I would be weaning completely in the next couple months and I wanted to take my time with the whole process (still nursing 2-3 times a day). I was also sick of pumping and had enough of a freezer stash to make up for the difference.
• I pumped for the very last time three and a half weeks later, on 9/4/09. I had noticed a huge drop in my milk production and I decided it just wasn't worth it for me to pump anymore. Not only was my pump output effected by the pregnancy - I was also having trouble producing enough for Trent when he was at the breast. It was that night that we started supplementing with formula and/or frozen breast milk. From that point on (which has only been 4 days) we've been doing a combination of breast feeding, formula, and thawed breast milk.

Right now I really have no set schedule or routine as far as which form of milk he gets when him and I are together. Yesterday, for example I nursed Trent in the morning and in the early evening. I had to followed up in the morning with a bottle because A. he signed to me that he wanted more milk, and B. he was fussing like he does when he is hungry. Today I nursed him in the morning and he was satisfied with just that. I've also been nursing him around dinner time, which works out well because he's eating other foods at that time as well. We give him a bottle before bed to ensure he gets enough to get him through the night.

At daycare (starting yesterday) he now gets one bottle of breast milk and one bottle of formula. I'm doing things this way so that my freezer stash lasts longer and so that he can semi-slowly get used to formula. (the poor boy pooped 4 times on Sunday - which was 1 full day after getting a few formula bottles. I don't think his tummy was prepared)
I will probably continue nursing him twice a day (morning and early evening) until it seems completely pointless. (which may be tomorrow, it may be next week, it may be longer)

bitter sweet

my days of breastfeeding are quickly coming to an end. Pregnancy can cause ones milk to dry up and I'm pretty sure that's exactly whats happening to me right now. Last night it was as if I just couldn't fill Trent's belly on my own. I rarely feel like pumping, and when i do I get very little, so my freezer stash is dwindling down to nothing. I'm happy and sad to have this chapter of motherhood come to an end (for now, at least). We're going to purchase some formula soon and start weaning Trent into it. I think I'll have daycare give him one formula bottle and one breastmilk bottle everyday until I'm all out of breastmilk (which will probably be sooner than later), and I'll continue to nurse him in the morning and in the evenings. We'll see what happens. Maybe last night was a fluke.

Either way, we had a good run. 10 months is a long time. :-)